January 18, 2013 - Lima Foundation Day

Francisco
Pizarro founded Lima in what is now Peru on this day in 1535, calling
it La
Ciudad de losReyes
(City of Kings).

The
name wasn't used by many, not for long. An older name for the the
area was Limaq.
This name was in the Incan language Quechua,
and the Spanish version of the name was Lima.
Even the very oldest Spanish maps of Peru names the city Lima
as well as La
Ciudad de los Reyes.

Lima
is the capital of Peru. It is Peru's largest city; almost one-fourth of all
Peruvians live in this city.

According
to Nile Guide,
it never rains in Lima. A bit of drizzle, yes, but not “real”
rain. (According to Wikipedia,
there is only half an inch of precipitation per year.)
But because Lima lies on the Pacific Coast, the temperatures are
mild, and there is morning fog in the summer and persistent low
clouds in the winter. (Since Lima is in the Southern Hemisphere, June
and July are winter months, and January is a midsummer month.) I was
amazed to find out that there are only about 1284 hours of sunshine
PER YEAR – which averages only 3.5 hours per day!

So
it never rains but it's almost always cloudy. Lima's on the coast but in a
desert.

Novandina

Apparently
Peruvian, and especially Limean, food is famously great. The city
boasts more than 20 cooking schools and Latin America's “most sophisticated cuisine.”
The blending of Indian and European cultures takes advantage of many
varieties of peppers (some unique to this area), more than 2,000
kinds of potatoes, plentiful and varied seafood, a grainlike staple
called quinoa, and a tropical fruit called lacuma.

By
the Way...

Lima's
founder, Francisco Pizarro, is partially responsible for one of the
biggest upsets in military history. He and his contingent of 200
Spanish soldiers prevailed over perhaps 80,000 Incas!

How
did that happen?

It's
hard to know for sure what happened more than 400 years
ago—especially because the history of the conquest was written by
the Spanish victors, rather than by a fair-minded outsider. But
smallpox had devastated the Incan population and killed the
king...the Spaniards had guns, which were loud and scary...and the
Spaniards perhaps surprised the Incas with their savagery. For
example, Pizarro managed to take the new king hostage; this king
promised to fill a room with gold and treasure in return for his
release, and he made good on his promise. But Pizarro took the
treasure and killed the king, anyway!

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This site is designed to be a source of interesting articles for kids and a resource for teachers and parents (especially homeschool teacher/parents!). From world holidays to historical anniversaries, Every Day Is Special celebrates each and every day.